Roasting Winter Squash

I thought some people, like me, might be a little overwhelmed by the amount of squash we got the last couple of weeks. I thought I would show you how I roast different winter squash varieties and maybe give you a couple new ideas for dishes using winter squash other than soup.

The squash I have are delicata, butternut, kabocha and pumpkin.

Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. I’m not going to peel the delicata, pumpkin or kabocha.

I peeled the long shaft of the butternut and cut it in two shapes for comparison. The small cavity where the seeds are I am leaving unpeeled and I’ll roast them with the pumpkin and scoop the flesh out.

I cut the kabocha up in thin strips and tossed the strips in olive oil and salt and pepper and tossed in some sage leaves. You want to set your oven for 400F to 425F to roast squash. These are kind of thin so I went with 400F.

After 25 minutes they were done. Kabocha is more dry and fluffy like potatoes when it’s roasted. I love the texture contrast of the skin and the flesh. This would make a nice risotto.

I didn’t make risotto. I made a super simple rustic galette with the roasted kabocha squash.

The delicata squash I cut in small dice, I tossed it with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper. Don’t forget that you can roast any vegetables together with the squash if you have room. I like to keep them separate incase one gets done sooner than the other.

Here is the delicata done, it took about 30 minutes to cook at 400F. It’s kind of hard to tell from the picture that they are done (soft all the way through). These delicata will be delicious in a grain or noodle bowl like this.

Here is the butternut squash done. Again, tossed in olive oil and salt and pepper and cooked for about 40 minutes at 425F. It keeps its shape better than the kabocha. There are lots of nice winter squash salad recipes you could make with the roasted butternut squash.